Sacramento 
The Surfing Madonna apparently won’t be catching a wave at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas.

Citing the artwork’s religious nature and hesitant to overturn an earlier denial by the Department of Parks and Recreation, an Assembly committee on Tuesday rejected legislation that would have permitted the stained-glass mosaic to be installed at the oceanfront park.

Dubbed the Surfing Madonna, the 10-foot-by-10-foot mosaic captures an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on a surfboard with the motto “Save the Ocean” running down the side.

Artist Mark Patterson and the city will now look for another location, most likely on city property or private land, said supporters of the measure.

“The mosaic is art. It’s purpose is a secular one … and the message is clear: save the ocean,” testified S. Christian Platt, the artist’s attorney.

The legislation was introduced by Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Solana Beach, after the Department of Parks and Recreation last month turned down the city’s request to install the mosaic at Moonlight State Beach. Encinitas operates the state-owned beach but needs permission before altering the landscape.

Encinitas resident Bill Cavanaugh, who launched a campaign to save the mosaic, testified that “the world has embraced the mosaic and its message: save the ocean … We hope you allow us to bring her home.”

But they failed to sway members of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. The measure died without even a motion for passage.

Another committee member, Roger Hernandez. D-West Covina, opposed the mosaic’s depiction of a religious figure. “The way she is imaged here is disrespectful to the people of my culture, my background,” said Hernandez, who said he was raised in a Catholic household.

Encinitas Mayor Jerome Stocks said later Tuesday that he expected Democrats would shelve the bill, claiming they are traditionally opposed to any art with a faith-based undertone while Republicans are eager to defend it.

“And we know who has the majority and who has the minority in Sacramento,” Stocks added. “This is exactly what I predicted.”

Patterson could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The decision came almost one year to the day the mosaic first mysteriously appeared on April 22 — a Good Friday and Earth Day in 2011.

Initially acting anonymously, Patterson had surreptitiously affixed his art to the base of a train bridge on Encinitas Boulevard just east of Highway 101.